S.Korean companies line up for IPOs as market recovers

South Korean companies are gearing up for listings targeting billions of dollars in market capitalization as the local initial public offering (IPO) market is recovering on views of the global interest rate hike cycle coming to an end. 

APR Co., a South Korean beauty and fashion product manufacturer, is set to hold a public subscription Feb. 14-15 to raise up to 75.8 billion won ($57 million) by selling 379,000 stocks at as high as 200,000 won per share, according to its filing to a financial regulator on Thursday. It has reportedly attracted nearly 2,000 institutional investors at home and abroad during the bookbuilding process concluded earlier in the day.

The maker of fashion brand Nerdy is expected to become the country’s first company listed this year with an estimated market capitalization of up to 1.5 trillion won.

Other companies, such as HD Hyundai Marine Solution, are predicted to follow suit after the Lunar New Year holidays, industry sources said.

HD HYUNDAI GROUP UNIT, GAME DEVELOPER

HD Hyundai Marine Solution, a marine service unit of South Korea’s top shipbuilding conglomerate HD Hyundai Group, has kicked off the listing process by applying for a preliminary review of its IPO to the Korea Exchange (KRX) in December.

The company, formerly HD Hyundai Global Service, plans to submit a registration statement once the KRX approves the review in the first half to take further steps toward a listing. Its corporate value was estimated at up to 4 trillion won, according to financial market sources.

Such moves came as the domestic IPO market showed signs of recovery with the successes of smaller companies in the second half of last year. LS Materials Co., a South Korean energy storage device maker, quadrupled on its Kosdaq market debut in December, for example.

The IPO market is expected to improve further in the coming months as global central banks may cut interest rates to boost economic growth, industry sources said.

Major game developers, which have recently steered clear of the IPO market, are also likely to seek listings.

Shift Up Corp., the developer of "Goddess of Victory: Nikke," a famous third-person shooter action role-playing video game, plans to apply for a preliminary listing review once it completes its earnings statement for 2023.

Lotte Global Logistics, a unit of South Korea’s No. 6 conglomerate, is predicted to go public this year as it pledged a listing by April 2025 to financial investors.

TO RESUME IPO PLANS

Companies that dropped listing plans due to weak investor sentiment last year are resuming their IPO processes.

Internet-only lender Kbank, which indefinitely postponed an IPO plan in February 2023 even after securing necessary approval for a Kospi listing, selected bookrunners last month.

Seoul Guarantee Insurance Co. (SGI) is scheduled to decide to restart its listing processes this year at a meeting of the Public Fund Oversight Committee under the Financial Services Commission in February.

SGI is likely to go public in the second half as its top shareholder Korea Deposit Insurance Corp. wants to resume its IPO plan, industry sources said.

Write to Seok-Cheol Choi at dolsoi@hankyung.com
 
Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.